#52 Jam Master Jay - The man behind Run-DMC

Hip hop lost a true legend yesterday. Jason Mizell, known to fans as Jam Master Jay, was shot to death in a Jamacia, Queens, recording studio. Jay, best known as the DJ for Run-DMC, earned a place is music history by helping bring the signature cutting and scratching of hip-hop to the mainstream. Like most of New York's hip-hop founders, Jam Master Jay cut his teeth rocking neighborhood house parties.

The transition from local celibrity to international superstar was a quick one for Jay and his bandmates. Run-DMC's third album, Raising Hell, was a triple Platinum-selling smash hit which featured the then scandalous pairing of the rappers with the rock group Aerosmith.

Jam Master Jay will be remembered for introducing new, exciting sounds to our ears, such as the hand-crafted chime loops of Peter Piper and the scratch-delivered stabs and vocal samples of Mary Mary.

Soon after the shooting a crowd gathered outside the studio to pay tribute to the hip-hop pioneer. Already, dedications to the DJ are sprouting up all over the web.

Jam Master Jay was 37.

#51 Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions - New Animation From Aardman.

The clay duo who starred in the Academy Award winning shorts The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave are back in ten new shorts revolving around invention. The first of the series is The Soccamatic, which pits a goal-tending Gromit against a football punting Wallace. The remaining new episodes are scheduled to be released sporadically over the next several weeks. Thankfully, Atom Films has also made other Aardman shorts available. Nick Park's fantastic Creature Comforts, which pairs real interview dialogue with hilariously expressive zoo animals, is particularly worth watching.

#50 Punch Drunk Love - P.T. Anderson's Love Letter to the Emotionally Inept

Raw emotions make some people uncomfortable. The characters in Magnolia, though surrounded by a web of others, exuded an unmistakable loneliness. Some found this unfiltered portrayal of pain embarrassing or even tedious. I found this departure from Boogie Nights' wide-eyed distance brave and refreshing. In Anderson's latest film, Punch Drunk Love, Adam Sandler plays another loner. Barry Egan is an average Joe with a mile-wide crack in his well-being. We catch up with self-made businessman as he ekes out a living in the San Fernando Valley. He's a decent, albeit socially troubled, guy who lives alone and occupies a space half a degree off from the real world. Anderson's inspired camera work and sound design miraculously aid the viewer in feeling Egan's distance from the world. In once scene we see Egan standing at the curb. A car approaches quickly but silently in the background. Only when the car is upon him do we hear the sudden, deafening roar of wind and engine. When confronted with Egan's seven sisters, the screeching chaos of a family gathering paired with frenetic camera work helps us understand and even condone Barry's sudden bursts of uncontrolled violence. As a sketch of a disenfranchised loser, this film would be merely interesting. P.T. Anderson's completely believable gift of love to Egan in the form of the elven Emily Watson elevates the film to another, more sublime level.